[Samuel x Roman]

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Laila honestly just felt the excitement build as they travelled to their unknown destination, on the bus, through the shopping centre and then past a couple of stores until they had reached their goal. Laila couldn't help but feel a slightly childish excitement fill her. Build-A-Bear.

It was a little silly maybe, they were almost fourteen not ten, but she absolutely loved it. Few boys would take her to a place like this because they'd think it was stupid, but not Harper, he didn't care and because he didn't care he had found the most adorable date activity. It wasn't just getting a teddy-bear, it was making one.

"Oh my god yes, this is like the best idea ever," Laila said, she couldn't help but be expressive about it, and she leaned in to kiss Harper's cheek real quick, "We're making one together right?"
 
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Harper was beyond relieved to learn that Laila was happy with the first part of their date. It had been a bit of a risk -- he had had the gut feeling that she would like it but his dad had warned him that it could perhaps backfire, as a lot of thirteen-year-old girls tried to assert their maturity by shunning childish things.

But she liked it and it paid off. Needless to say, Harper was over the moon.

"No, actually, I've got some money for the both of us to make our own but I thought we could match them," Harper suggested. They walked into the establishment, and the first step was to pick out the skin of the bears they wanted to make. Harper decided to go for a clover green bear since that was one of his favourite colours. "What do you want to go with? Ooh, would it be cute if mine is green but wears white and yours is white but wears green? We could do that but only if you want to."
 
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"That'd be really cute!" Laila said, it was a bit of a silly thing to be impressed over but she was impressed over the idea Harper had. Not just to make them match but in the way he wanted them to match. Harper, on top of liking a lot of girly things most boys didn't like flowers and nail polish, clearly had more of an eye of style. Of course you couldn't see it as much when everyone was wearing their school uniforms but Laila had met various of her male classmate outside of school. They didn't really look bad but Harper was a little more stylish and seemed to know how to match things.

"I was thinking of going with a white one anyway, so we're totally in sync," she said with a smile and started to look for the white skins for the teddies, she wasn't making it up, she had wanted a white on, it'd be cute and she could have it in her room without it looking awfully childish.

She picked a skin for the teddy, a really soft white one that was really adorable, "I think I'm going with this one, they'll look cute together," she held the fabric up to harper's, they weren't super cute before they had been stuffed but the creamy white she had chosen didn't contrast weirdly with the clover green.
 
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Harper was glad that she liked his idea. He gave her a happy little kiss to the cheek when she confirmed that she supported it, and then turned back to the station. They got their teddies stuffed, choosing the eye styles as well, and then they proceeded along to one of the most exciting stages of the whole process.

The clothes.

"Oh wow," Harper said, eyes widening a little at all the selections available to them. There was just so much to choose from. "Okay, do you have any ideas of how you want to dress yours?"
 
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"Yeah, wow, there's a lot... I don't really know," Laila said as she looked out over the tiny pieces of clothing, there was a lot but if she narrowed things down to only green it'd probably be a little easier, "I think I'm gonna look around and see if inspiration strikes," she said with a little chuckle, he didn't know how inspired a teddy bear from Build-A-Bear could really be but she sure was going to try her best to make it cute.

She wandered off a little to try to find something cute and green to put the teddy in, she was really looking for something that wouldn't look very childlike and silly in her room, and since Build-A-Bear technically was for kids there was a lot of cute princess tutus and different profession styled clothing like firemen and doctors, that would be fun for kids. Finally, though she found a cute little pair of green overall pants fit for the teddy, it had a little hole for its tail even, which she had to admit, was adorable.

She hurried back to Harper and showed him, "I found these, I think they'll be cute, have you got something?"
 
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Harper decided to take Laila's advice and just browse a bit until he found something he liked. When they reconvened, he had come across a cute little white-and-green-checked dress, and a matching bow to go on the bear's head. He thought it was amusing that they had gone polar opposites on the stereotypical spectrum when it came to male and female clothing.

Harper defied a lot of gender roles and that was something that had always worried him when he had thought about dating. He knew a lot of girls preferred super manly, masculine guys, the kind of guy who likes sports and fishing and will take care of them. The thing was, Harper did like sports, he didn't mind fishing, and he would always take care of his girlfriends.

But he also liked flowers and painting his nails and pinks and purples. He loved it when Dad wore makeup because he just thought it was so pretty. He liked to play Barbie dolls with Letha sometimes and he had a secret love of high heeled shoes. A lot of girls didn't like it when guys liked that sort of thing.

But Laila liked him for him, and that made him feel wonderful.

"Oooh, I think yours is super cute. Are you ready to get them finished up?"
 
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"yeah! Let's," Laila said and they both went to line up in the short queue to the place for they stuffed the teddies. Once they reached the front they were met by a happy looking girl in her late teens who worked here.

"Oh are you two here making teddies together?" She asked, she sounded as happy as he looked and there was not a hint of judgement in her tone just because Laila and Harper was a little older than the usual customers in the shop.

"yeah," Laila said proudly, but also a little awkwardly because even if the other girl wasn't judging, the way she didn't change the way she spoke to them from when she spoke to the six-year-old who had been before them made her feel a little silly.

"That's great!" The girl said, "First we're gonna have to give you teddies a heart... Let's go ladies first?" she suggested and Laila nodded. The girl got out a soft little satin plush heart and gave it to her.

"Close your eyes and make a wish," She said sweetly, Laila complied, knowing it was more immature not to than to do it, this girl who was only four or so years older than her was playing along after all. Plus she thought it was kind of sweet and made the teddies more personal, so she closed her eyes, thought about it for a moment and made her wish.

"Alright," She said to signify she was done.

The girl then smiled and instructed Laila to place the heart in the teddy and then the girl took it and filled it up and pulled the strings in the back to close up the teddy's back and what Laila received back was an adorable white fluffy and cuddly teddy. The girl then turned to Harper, gave him a heart and said, "Your turn, make a wish upon the heart," in the same bright and chipper tone.
 
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Harper knew a lot of boys who would scoff at the whole process of wishing upon the heart of the teddy. But he thought it was sweet. It was obviously aimed for kids but it would help those kids feel closer to their bears, and let them believe that the bears would help their wishes come true. What was wrong with that?

So Harper took the heart, closed his eyes and made a wish. He wished that one day he could find true love and happiness. He hoped, with every fibre of his being, that he had already found it with Laila.

Soon Harper's teddy was all done, and so the rest of their date commenced. They went and got ice creams at a really nice parlour on the grand floor and ate them outside by the fountain. Then they ducked into the arcade and played a couple of games. It was really fun, and Harper had had a really fun day out with his lovely girlfriend.

While they were waiting for the bus, Harper took both of her hands in his and looked at her intently. "Did you have a nice time today?"
 
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The rest of the date was great fun. They hauled around their teddies in the mall, getting ice cream and playing games at the arcade until it was time for them to take the bus back home. At that point, Laila felt perfectly content and happy, sure she could have probably spent even more time with Harper because he was fun to be around, but it also felt like the day was coming to a really nice end and she could really appreciate that without being sad it had ended.

"yeah I really did," Laila said, a soft smile on her face, they were standing hand in hand, Harper's eyes were looking directly into hers and she was looking back. She was quiet for a moment before she tried to discretely move a little closer, she didn't quite lean in because that felt a little awkward, but she discretely took a small step closer.

"really Harper, you're great at planning dates, I can't think of anyone else who would take me to do something like this and it was really fun,"
 
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Harper was incredibly relieved that Laila had liked the date. She hadn't done anything throughout it to indicate that she wasn't having a good time, but still, it made him happy to know that she had enjoyed herself. He had put a lot of effort into it, and that effort had paid off.

Harper really liked Laila. He knew a lot of adults would probably laugh at him if he said that aloud, since most adults thought that the crushes and relationships of children were just silly. But Harper just really freaking liked Laila. He knew it wasn't love, like what his Dad and Papa had, but he felt that with time, it could develop into something of the sort.

Laila was really close, Harper noticed. He bit his lip and took another step closer. "Can ... do you ... should we ... can I kiss you?" he asked really nervously.
 
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Laila felt her face flush at Harper's suggestion. Not because it hadn't been what she wanted, she clearly did. It was the reason she had shuffled forward and the reason her eyes didn't break contact with Harper's. But it was kind of nice to know that Harper wanted to kiss her too, and a little scary. She hadn't ever kissed a boy before, not like this.

"Yeah I think that sounds nice," she said, trying not to sound awkward, she didn't stumble over her words which was nice.

She leaned in a little closer and a moment later they were kissing. Nothing too crazy, just their lips touching, but it wasn't just a quick peck either. After a small moment though Laila pulled back gently. Not in a way like she was regretting it, but just to end the kiss. She wasn't sure what she had expected, she knew movies and books amped it up quite a lot, so not fireworks maybe, but still maybe for it have been a little more of a wow moment. She didn't dislike it though, she felt butterflies in her stomach and the smile on her face persisted.

"That was nice," she decided, not really knowing what else to say really.
 
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When their lips met Harper's head began to spin wildly, in a good way, of course. He had never kissed a girl before -- kisses to the cheeks of Stella or Letha or even Emma-Marie didn't count. This was his first ever kiss and it was amazing. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but this was truly lovely.

When Laila pulled away Harper was beaming and he was also completely oblivious to the fact that Laila hadn't enjoyed the kiss as much as he had. "Yeah, that was amazing," Harper said to her. He followed up with a small kiss to the cheek, and then their bus came, so he helped her aboard and soon they were on their way back home.

Harper walked Laila home from her bus stop and then hopped on another so he could get to his own place. When he got home he told his dads all about his wonderful date and it was clear to see how happy he was. He hadn't slept with a stuffed animal in years, but that night, his bear found itself a place on the pillow beside him, and when he fell asleep, he had a pure and innocent smile plastered on his face.
 
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Laila still felt happy that day when she came home from that day and she told her parents about how nice it had been and informed all her closest friends about how they had kissed. By the time she went to bed, the teddy cutely placed next to some of the decorative cushions on the bed, she had mostly forgotten how the kiss hadn't been exactly what she had maybe wanted and felt really good about it and Harper.

That is until the next time they shared a kiss a couple of days later and she felt the same way. Haper still looked so happy about it though, and he was so sweet so she didn't dare to ask him if he felt the same. Slowly she was realising that maybe she didn't like Harper as much as a boyfriend as she had thought. And now, a little while after their first date she had come to the conclusion that he had really liked the idea of having someone nice like Harper as her boyfriend, and had liked the idea of having a boyfriend in general, but that she saw Harper as more like a friend than anything else.

It was a Monday and she had taken the entire weekend to think about it, she even asked her mum about it, and she had come to the conclusion that she had to break up with Harper. It was not fair to either of them to keep dating if one of their hearts weren't in it. She found Harper around lunchtime, with his friends as usual. She had told her own friends what she was going to do so they had gone ahead without her.

"Hey Harper, could we go hang out by ourselves for a little while?" she said when she walked up to him, she had her backpack on, in which the teddy from their first date was, and one of her hands were clasping one of the straps pretty hard because she was genuinely nervous about this.
 
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Harper was really freaking happy. He was on top of all of his schoolwork, his team had recently won a big soccer game and most of all, everything felt to be going spectacularly with Laila. Every time he saw her a big smile lit up his face and that had only increased when they had shared their first kiss. It was Harper's first relationship, but he felt it was going really well.

Today he was kicking the soccerball around on the oval with his guy friends when Laila came up to him. Immediately the guys began to make stupid 'oooooh' sounds, as if 'hang out' meant something suggestive. Harper just rolled his eyes, flipped them off and followed Laila off the field.

As they went he took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Where do you want to go, Laila?" he asked her as they walked. Normally he wouldn't just abandon his friends for Laila, especially if they were in the middle of a game, but he hadn't seen her much the day before and besides, Reece was being a bit of an asshole.

"I could maybe get you a drink from the canteen or something?"
 
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At that moment Laila kind of hated how nice Harper still was, it made her feel really bad for what she was about to do. She wasn't breaking up with him because he had done something wrong, so he didn't deserve to be sad, "No that's fine, I actually wanted to talk to you about something so I think we should go somewhere a little more private," Laila said carefully. She really didn't want to embarrass Harper by breaking the news to him where people could hear, she still liked him a lot so she didn't want anyone to poke fun at him for it.

She quietly led him through the school to a part of the building where there weren't any lockers and thus no people around lunch time. There she finally let go of Harper's hand and took a deep breath, she hadn't really decided what to say yet but there was no turning back now, it was hard to form words though, because hurting Harper made her feel really sad as well.

Instead of speaking she got the teddy out of her backpack and held it out to Harper, she had decided handing it back was the right thing to do. It wasn't that she didn't like it or that she had had a bad time at their date, but it felt mean to keep something he had given to her when she was breaking up with him, "I- I'm sorry, Harper, I don't think I can do this anymore,"
 
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A feeling of dread washed over Harper as he realised that something was very wrong. As they walked to the secluded space Laila had picked out his stomach began to churn and he felt like he was going to throw up. He could sort of tell what was about to happen, but he didn't want to admit it or even consider it a possibility.

Laila let go of his hand, then reached into her backpack and pulled out the teddy, the one that matched the one he had at home. The one they had gotten on their first date. Harper couldn't deny what was about to happen anymore. He took the teddy and stared at it as his ears rushed like the wind and Laila's words were thrown into that storm.

She was breaking up with him.

"I ..." Harper swallowed hard to stop his voice from cracking, and then looked up, forcing himself to make eye contact with Laila. His own eyes were glossy, showing that he was so close to bursting into tears. He kept it together for the moment, though. "I don't understand," he said softly. "I thought everything was going really well. Did I do something wrong?"
 
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Seeing Harper's eyes tear up like that made Laila's own eyes tear up as well. It was selfish of her to cry now though so she made sure to keep them in. She wasn't the one who was getting hurt Harper was. And Harper thought he had done something wrong and she had to make sure he knew he hadn't.

"No Harper, you didn't do anything, it's just me that..." She couldn't actually say the whole ' it's not you, it's me' because that'd actually be comically horrible, but that was honestly what she was trying to tell him, "You were great. You're a great guy and I like you a whole lot. But I just... I don't think I have the same kind of feelings for you that you might have for me?"

She took another deep breath, a little shaky now because of the tears, "please don't think you did anything wrong because you're honestly one of the greatest guys in school and I think you're a great friend... Just not more than that... I'm sorry,"
 
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Harper ... Harper didn't know what to say. He didn't know where this had come from, he didn't know why Laila had changed her mind about him. As she spoke he tried to think of anything he could have done wrong, even if she had just said he wasn't at fault. He couldn't believe that. He tried to, but he couldn't. He had to have done something wrong.

Laila finished and they stood in silence for a few seconds. Harper was clutching the teddy tightly. He bit down on his lip in an attempt to stop himself from crying, but it failed, and in a few short moments, he had let out a couple of shaky sobs.

If his guy friends were here they would laugh at him for crying and say something like 'boys don't cry' or 'toughen up'. But boys did cry, boys cried just as much as girls did when they were upset or scared or stressed. And Harper was crying now. Maybe this is why Laila didn't like him anymore -- because he was too feminine, like he had always worried.

"Th - thank you for telling me," Harper said hoarsely, before he couldn't take it anymore. He clutched the teddy tightly, turned without having the courage to make eye contact with her again, and just walked away.
 
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Around lunchtime, Emma-Marie had been approached by some girls she recognized as Laila's friends. Ever since Laila and Harper started dating she had seen a lot more of them. She had a feeling some of them didn't really like her because she was Harper's best friend and also a girl, but she didn't blame them too much for that since they were just looking out for their friend.

When they had come to talk to her today it was with concerned faces, but not for her, no they were for Harper. They said she should probably go find him soon, but didn't explicitly say why. She asked if he was with Laila and she asked where and they said yes and that they didn't know. She didn't like how they wouldn't tell her what was going on, though she maybe did have an idea of what was happening.

Once it was clear that she wouldn't get any more information from them she went to try to find Harper. If she was right about what she thought what was going on she assumed Harper wouldn't be somewhere crowded and she did indeed find him hurrying through a part of the school no one was in at that time of the day. He was crying and he was holding the teddy bear she knew he and Laila had gotten on their first date, because Harper had so happily told her about it. She knew she was right then. Laila had broken up with him. But she didn't want to believe it so, as she caught up to him and pulled him into a hug she asked, "What happened? Are you okay?"
 
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Harper felt lost, and he didn't know what to do. It wasn't like he had thought he and Laila would be together forever, but he also hadn't thought that they wouldn't be. So, he had nor prepared for this kind of situation. He tried to think of what his parents would do, that often helped him figure things out.

But they had been together forever. They had probably forgotten what heartbreak truly was.

Harper looked up in shock when he heard Emma-Marie's voice. He immediately ran for her and when they met, he enveloped into a hug. He hated what was happening and he hated that he had no way to go back in time and change it.

"She b - broke up with me," Harper hiccuped.
 
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